Prospects look to build on season's success next summer

The consensus in the Prospects’ clubhouse on locker cleanout day: you can be disappointed in the result, but not the effort.

“We had a very good season,” said head coach Ray Brown between year-end player meetings. “Obviously we would have liked to be WMBL champions, but right now we’re content being the Western (division) champions.”

On July 29, the Prospects finished the regular season in the Western Major Baseball League’s final playoff position, with a sub-500 record of 22-25. On August 10, they defeated the Medicine Hat Mavericks – a team eight games above them in the standings – to win the Western division pennant.

“It’s always good to come out as an underdog and make it further than everyone expects,” said pitcher Paul Richy, who will return to his NCAA Division I program at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas this week.

Richy is thankful for his time in Edmonton, and is a player that the coaching staff is hopeful will return to the Prospects next summer.

“It was an honour to come up here and play in Canada,” Richy said. “We’ve got a great group of guys here.”

“It’s been an awesome opportunity,” agreed fellow pitcher Zach Siggelkow, who hails from St. Anthony, Minn. “Being in a different country and getting the experience here has been a lot of fun.”

The two Americans were key to the Prospects pitching staff in 2016, and Brown hopes that the two are a sign of things to come for the team as far as recruitment.

“We’ve raised the bar of what it takes to play on this team,” said Brown. “We still want to carry as many local players as we can, but they have to be able to meet the standard.”

Coach and special advisor Orv Franchuk has been involved with baseball operations at all levels since 1977, and has the ball already rolling for next summer.

“I got three calls this morning from college coaches in the U.S. who want to send their players here next year,” said Franchuk, who stressed the importance of growth not only in the players, but the coaching staff as well. “We have to be better than we were this year, and we have to make sure we’re bringing in quality people.”

Brown has spent his career growing the game of baseball in unknown markets around the world, but thinks it’s equally important to grow the game at home.

“I think it’s raised the bar for baseball in Edmonton,” said Brown, whose team drew more than 1,500 fans per game in the playoffs. “People know they’ll come and see a good level of baseball.”

Erik Sabrowski, 18, is one of the Prospects’ home-grown players who made a statement this season. He finished the playoffs with a 0.92 ERA on the mound and a .395 average at the plate, a team-best in both categories.

Sabrowski will begin his collegiate career in Cisco, Texas with a boost of confidence after having low expectations for playing time coming into this summer.

“I can’t say thank you enough to the older guys,” said Sabrowski. “They took me under their wing and brought me in as one of their own. It’s bittersweet seeing some of them go, but we know that we’ll be able to move on with a bunch of guys and have a strong nucleus next year.”

Fellow Edmonton product Logan Wedgewood is one of just two players who are ineligible to return to the team next year. Wedgewood’s competitive playing career came to an end with the loss to Swift Current.

“I don’t think I could have asked for a better team to finish out with,” said Wedgewood, who will continue in baseball as a member of the coaching staff for his former team at Okanagan College. He will also attend the University of British Columbia to finish his degree in communications.

“I don’t have any regrets,” continued the catcher in his post-season reflection. “I got to play with my best friend Derek (Shedden, Prospects shortstop) for one more summer. My parents got to watch my last game … It’s hard to regret anything.”

Wedgewood was expecting to be considerably more upset than he ended up being after Saturday’s loss.

“I thought it was going to be harder, but I think how far we made it in the playoffs kind of smoothed the blow a little bit,” he said.

The summer of 2016 was Wedgewood’s fourth summer with the team, making him one of the longest-serving players in club history.

“I guess to sum it all up, it’s a peaceful parting,” he said as the last remaining player in the clubhouse.

“I just have to say thank you to the guys. They bought me 12 more games.”

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.